Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Reviews

Introduction

When, in 1739, Bach published his Clavierübung Part III, he flanked a miscellaneous collection of liturgical settings, chorale preludes and duos with a monumental prelude at the beginning of the volume and tripartite fugue at the end. The Prelude and Fugue in E flat major, BWV552 were not always connected to each other. Although in the same key, and indeed copied as separate works in the eighteenth century, it was only in the early nineteenth, and with the specific advocacy of Mendelssohn, that they were performed in sequence as a pair. The prelude, one of the two largest Bach wrote for organ, is a masterly mixture of stately French and concertante Italian elements, while the fugue (treating the three subjects successively in three different metres and in three different combinations) is based on a theme in common currency whose fortuitous closeness to Croft’s hymn tune ‘St Anne’ has attracted that name (in English-speaking countries at least); Bach, if he knew the tune at all, might have come across it in Handel’s use of it in the Chandos Anthem ‘O praise the Lord with one consent’.

Other albums featuring this work

'Herrick's musical inspiration, matched by his technique, does full justice to this pinnacle of the organ repertoire' (BBC Music Magazine Top 1000 CDs ...'Yet another yardstick release from what seems to be an unbeatable team … I suspect I have already found my record of the year' (Gramophone)» More

'This set marks a significant addition to the Christopher Herrick Bach archive and is a further manifestation of the happy collaboration between the a ...'Hugely rewarding playing of the highest order' (The Scotsman)» More

'Let me say without hesitation that Herrick’s performances are models of clarity, accuracy, precision and musicality … this is a complete Bach th ...'Herrick is one of the few organists who does justice to these difficult, elusive pieces … What a singular joy to hear the organ played with such ...» More